Saturday, October 19, 2013

Why Don't You Go Ask Mr. Owl?

I was just a kid when this commercial was ran ever 5 minutes during my Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 60's. The images stuck in my head clear up till my Junior year of college in 2006. The marriage of watercolor splotches and my pen & ink drawings fit together effortlessly. Oh ~ and I am a big fan of the candy too!

Here is a piece inspired by the commercial. My kids told me the guy in the commercial was naked! I had never noticed. I think they are all on Crack! Still, it was a funny thought, so I hope you don't mind that my guy is naked too.

Fun Facts From Wikipedia (So you know it's true!)

Rumors and set attempts for Tootsie Pop

At some point, a rumor began that the lollipop wrappers which bore
three unbroken circles were redeemable for free candy or even free items
like shirts and other items. The rumor was untrue, but some shops have
honored the wrapper offer over the years, allowing people to "win" a
free pop.
Some stores redeemed lollipop wrappers with the "shooting star"
(bearing an image of a child dressed as a Native American aiming a bow
and arrow at a star) for a free sucker. This was clearly up to the store
owner and not driven by the lollipop manufacturer.

One convenience store in Iowa City, Iowa, for example, gave candy away
when the children asked. In 1994, the owner of Dan’s Shortstop told a
reporter that when he first opened children came by often, but after a
while, he said, he had to stop giving stuff away…. Giveaways also
occurred in Chico, California, where a 7-Eleven store manager in the
Pleasant Valley area, said she had to stop because it had become too
expensive.

Since 1982, Tootsie Roll Industries has been distributing a short story, The Legend of the Indian Wrapper, to children who mail in their Indian star wrappers as a "consolation prize".A superstition of the same wrapper is that it gives the bearer good luck for the rest of the day.

A student study at the University of Cambridge concluded that it takes 3,481 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

Another study by Purdue University
concluded that it takes an average of 364 licks to get to the center of
a Tootsie Pop using a "licking machine", while it takes an average of
252 licks when tried by 20 volunteers. Yet another study by the University of Michigan concluded that it takes 411 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

A 1996 study by undergraduate students at Swarthmore College concluded that it takes a median of 144 licks (range 70–222) to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Harvard Grad students created a rotating mechanical tongue and
concluded it took 2255 licks. It took 2256 licks on one attempt for a
normal raspberry Tootsie Pop to get the center showing.